Jose Reyes says he just wants to play, and worry about contract later

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty ImagesJose Reyes won't talk with the Mets about a new contract until after the regular season.

NEW YORK — The symbolism was cheap and obvious and still impossible to ignore on an afternoon when the Mets announced shortstop Jose Reyes did not want to enter negotiations for a new contract until the regular season ends.

There was general manager Sandy Alderson, his back pressed up against a Mets banner, explaining that while he hoped to retain Reyes long-term, “we’ll just have to see where events take us over the next four or five weeks.” There was Reyes, his back facing a wall as blank and open to interpretation as his future, insisting that he wanted to be a Met for life, but “I don’t want any distractions on my mind.”

Those off-field considerations are impossible to ignore. Thus far, Reyes’ superlative play has only intensified the scrutiny. Fans flock to Citi Field bearing signs that read “Don’t Trade Reyes.” Chants of “Keep Jose” greet his at-bats.

With a potential nine-figure payday awaiting this winter, the swirling of rumors around Reyes will not cease as the baseball season chugs into July. Before last night’s game began, he led the National League in batting average, hits, runs, triples and ink spilled dissecting his situation. He insists the final quotient does not bother him, but he did not want a negotiation intruding.

Alderson intended to honor that wish. He also expressed what can be considered his most explicit indication that he did not plan to automatically trade Reyes.

This time of the season offers a crossroads. While his team’s play in the coming weeks would determine how he acts at the trade deadline, Alderson indicated that conceit would not necessarily apply to his shortstop.

“I think if we’re in it, it would be hard for me to see us trading Jose Reyes,” Alderson said. Later, he added, “If we’re playing lousy, it doesn’t mean Jose is gone.”

He has been the heart of this endearing team, a life force pulsing at the top of the lineup and anchoring the middle of the defense. His impending free agency has been such a consistent topic of discussion that Alderson felt compelled to act.

Last week, as Reyes continued to scorch opposing pitching and re-establish himself as one of the game’s unique talents, Alderson placed a call to Reyes’ agent, Peter Greenberg. Alderson considered his call both a courtesy and a necessity. The relationship between the two parties is still in its early stages.

The Mets did not extend the invitation to establish a negotiating window, according to a person with knowledge of the process; they simply wanted to open the dialogue. The person requested anonymity due to an inability to comment publicly on contract negotiations.

When Alderson called, Greenberg was in Japan. On Monday, Greenberg and one of his partners, Chris Leible, visited Reyes at the player’s home in Long Island.

They reached this general consensus: Why mess with a good thing?

“We’re going to have plenty of time in the offseason to make this happen,” Reyes said. “But right now, I just want to play without distractions.”